VETPARTNERS has reached a major milestone in veterinary research with the successful completion of its first-ever clinical trial, investigating whether reusable surgical drapes can offer environmental benefits without compromising patient care.
Project DRAPES – Drapes in Routine Aseptic Procedures for Environmental Sustainability – has brought together 16 VetPartners practices to contribute to a study involving 3,227 patients, demonstrating the power of collaboration across the group and its potential to deliver large-scale, practice-based research.
The study is investigating whether reusable surgical drapes can help veterinary practices reduce waste while maintaining excellent patient outcomes. In order to promote research transparency, the protocol for this randomised controlled trial has been published open-access, and VetPartners aims to ensure the final results are also accessible.
Project DRAPES brings together VetPartners’ Sustainability team, Clinical Board and practice teams to investigate whether reusable textile drapes and disposable alternatives produce different surgical outcomes during routine cat and dog neutering procedures.
Reusable products can offer significant environmental benefits by reducing waste and the impact associated with single-use items. However, veterinary teams need robust evidence that reusable alternatives deliver comparable patient outcomes before they can adopt them with confidence.
Building an evidence base to answer an important clinical question
Project DRAPES is examining post-operative infections and other wound complications following routine surgery. Using post-operative coding developed previously, the team is tracking surgical outcomes across participating practices to build an evidence base that can help answer this important clinical question.
The project represents an important step for VetPartners, demonstrating how a large network of veterinary practices can come together to investigate questions that matter in everyday clinical practice.
Recruiting 3,227 patients across 16 practices has enabled VetPartners to undertake research on a scale that would be challenging for an individual practice to deliver alone. It has also created opportunities for colleagues to contribute directly to research that could help inform future clinical practice and environmental decision-making.
VetPartners Group Head of ESG Hannah James said: “A huge thank you goes to all the practice teams who have supported the study and helped recruit patients alongside their day-to-day responsibilities. Their time, commitment and contribution have been fundamental to making this project possible.
“The study also highlights the value of collaboration between teams with different areas of expertise. By combining sustainability knowledge, clinical oversight and the practical experience of veterinary teams, VetPartners has been able to turn an important question into a large-scale research project.”
VetPartners hopes to build on the experience gained through Project DRAPES to develop similar research projects in the future, creating more opportunities for colleagues to participate in studies and helping answer questions that arise from everyday veterinary practice. The project demonstrates how the group’s network can be used to support practice-based research, bringing colleagues together to generate evidence that could benefit patients, practices and the wider veterinary profession.
Stanley House Vets in Lancashire was among the practices participating in Project DRAPES.
Senior Veterinary Nurse Emma Hoole, pictured left, said: “Everyone at Stanley House was proud to be involved in this valuable research. It has helped us to promote sustainability to clients and encouraged team members to consider the environment when choosing materials and how we can improve on this. We hope that our involvement will support a positive change for VetPartners.”
As data analysis begins, the focus is on understanding what the findings could mean for patient care and the environmental impact of veterinary procedures.
The results, expected in 2027, will provide further insight into the use of reusable and disposable surgical drapes and help practice teams to make whichever choice of drape is right for their teams and patients.
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